Fence-lviachine



(No Model.)

' M. GLEASON.

FENCE MACHINE.

No. 601,414. PatentedMar. 29; 1898.

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- MICHAEL GLEASON, OF LIBERTY, INDIANA.

FENCE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,414, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed November 8, 1897- Serial No. 657,889. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL GLEAsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Liberty, in the county of Union and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of fence machines or looms that weave a web of picket fence wherein the woof consists of the pickets and the warp of doublestrands of wire that embrace the pickets and are twisted togetherin the spaces formed between them; and the objects of my improvement are to guide the pickets properly into the loom and to stop them at the proper distance to cause their front ends to form a straight line. These objects are attained in the following described manner, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of a series of similar clamps, showing portions of c011- tiguous mechanism; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the feeding device; Figs. 3, 4:, and 5, details of construction.

With the exceptions hereinafter pointed out the loom maybe constructed as shown and described in my patent on fence-machines, granted September 4, 1894, and numbered 525,495, or it may be of any other suitable form of construction.

In the drawings, 1 represents portions of the main frame. A clamp consisting of similar jaws 2 and 3 is mounted thereon, and collars 4 and 6 are secured to jaw 3 and form bearings for the ends of the twister 7, that is driven by the sprocket-chain 8. .I aw 2 is hinged on the top of the collar 4 and rocked by the truss 9, to which its rear end is yieldingly secured. The front portion only is shown of the flier 11, that carries the spools. Wires 12 and 13 lead from respective spools through the twister and on opposite sides of the picket 14 and by being twisted together between the pickets form a warp of the fence. Guide 16 is hinged on the side of the jaw 2 and is movable in a vertical plane, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. It is held in normal position by gravity and is made correspondingly heavy. A slant or bevel 18 is formed on its rear vertical edge, and similar bevels 19, 21, and 22 are formed on the adjacent edges of the jaws 2 and 3 and collar 4, respectively. These bevels together form a funnelshaped entrance to throat 23 to guide the front end of the picket properly therethrough. Plunger 24, actuated by appropriate mechanism, (not shown,) forces the pickets laterally from the throat 23 and against the guide 16,

that rides over the pickets and resumes its normal position behind them.

The sprocket-Wheel 26 is movable on the shaft 27 and is driven by the dog 28, secured to said shaft. The coiled spring 29 describes an are between the end of the dog and lug 31 on the wheel. Rod 32, secured at one endof the lug, extends through the spring and loosely through an opening in the dog. This mechanism is provided that the rotation of the sprocket-wheel may be stopped and the shaft permitted to move such farther distance that the resistance of the spring may be overcome by the dog. Chain 33 rides on the idle sprocket wheel 34 and is driven by the sprocket-wheel 26. Dogs 36 on said chain drive the pickets endwise through the throats of a series of clamps and against the stop 37. The pickets usually vary in length, and the shaft 27 is arranged to stop its rotation when the front end of the shortest picket reaches the stop. As the front end of the longer pickets will thus reach the stop before the rotation of the shaft is discontinued, the resistance of the rear end of the pickets against the dogs 36 prevents further movement of the chain or sprocket wheels and forces the spring 29 to yield to the further movement of the shaft and prevents any breakage of the parts that would otherwise occur.

A modified form of construction of spring is shown in Fig. 5, wherein the springis coiled directly around the driving-shaft and secured at one end thereto and at the other end to the lug. Substantially the same result is obtained with this form of construction and the necessity of using a dog is obviated.

Further modification may be made by hinging the guide 16 of proper form to the jaw 3 and causing it to be held in normal position by a spring that would permit the guide to be automatically forced downward instead of upward, by the picket during its passage from the throat.

Having fully described my improvement-s, what I'claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a clamp consisting of a stationary and a hinged jaw and a twister-bearin g connecting said jaws together, of a guide hinged on one of the jaws and arranged to automatically close the front portion of the throat or opening between the jaws.

2. The combination of a clamp consisting of similar jaws, the one of said jaws being movable in relation to the other, a guide movably secured to one of said jaws and arranged to automatically close the front portion of the opening between the jaws, said guide being formed with a bevel on its rear edge whereby the front end of a picket is properly directed between the jaws.

3. The combination with jaws forming a clamp, a twister-bearing movably connecting formed with funnel-shaped entrances of automatically-movable guides that close the front portion of the respective throats.

5. The combination with jaws movably connected together to form a clamp of a guide hinged to one of said jaws and arranged to automatically resume its normal position by gravity after being displaced by the passage of a picket thereunder.

6. The combination with a shaft, a wheel movable thereon, a spring engaging the shaft with the wheel and arranged to permit the shaft to rotate farther than the wheel, of a fixed stop and feeding mechanism arranged to be driven intermittently by the wheel to carry fence-pickets against the stop.

7. The combination with a shaft, a sprocketwheel movable thereon, a chain driven by the wheel, a dog on the chain, and a stop secured at a fixed point of a spring mechanism engaging the wheel with the shaft, whereby the dog may be caused to stop at different distances from the stop during the rotation of the shaft.

8. In a fence-machine the combination of a series of clamps containing throats, a fixed stop, a feeding device arranged to feed the pickets through the throats to the stop and a spring mechanism engaging the feeding device with the driving-shaft.

MICHAEL GLEASON.

Witnesses:

J. J. RICHARDSON, R. S. CARR. 

